#Something Rotten on Berserker Island

[violet-moonstone]

[eemoo1o-tfrmoo]

Much Ado About Snotknuckles:

Something Rotten on Berserker Island (5x03) is a completely underrated episode, especially amongst Snotlout fans. Like, even if you’re not much of Gustav or Dagur fan, it’s great as just a Snotlout episode. Such examples (though most do include him and Gustav):

Snotlout constantly sassing Gustav and saving him from falling. He also just manages to lift him up effortlessly by one arm, with one arm. (Man, this man’s strength really fluctuates depending on the plot.)

Snotlout’s (perceived) incompetence completely vanishing when placed in a situation of danger and shifted power dynamic similarly to how he is when placed with the twins, only far stronger.

Snotlout calls the dragons “war machines” again and, in a sassy, aggressive way, attempts to sate Gustav’s nerves when he expresses that it’s different without Fanghook by (indirectly) empathising by name dropping Hookfang.

Snotlout saying “grow some hair on that barren chest if yours” while the camera is in a position for us to see all the hair on his own chest. This is a metaphor.

Snotlout immediately using himself as a distraction against the coup’s guards so that Gustav may escape, whereas if he were with the other riders he probably would have been the last one to volunteer.

When Gustav calls for Snotlout’s help after immediately being captured by some guards, Snotlout without complaint immediately defeats the guards that were chasing him to go help.

Snotlout conceiving a trap for the guards (and successfully fooling one into setting it off) to break Gustav out of jail.

Bonus:

Snotlout not correcting Dagur when he gets his name wrong and only silently seething over not getting much attention or duly credit due to his gargantuan man-crush (or just outright crush) on him.

Snotlout finally correcting Dagur and standing up for himself before they’re about to go into battle with Savage’s men.

Dagur and Snotlout going into battle with Dagur commenting “Two against twenty” and Snotlout saying “Could be worse.”

This man is an excellent warrior, brother, and man-whore.

[rosiethedragongeek]

Snotlout in ‘Something Rotten on Berserker Island’: Dagur can’t even get my name right :(((

Also Snotlout in the same episode: Guster Gustat Gustegg Gusto Gusteronimo Gust-

[jackshiccup]

snotlout being an unwilling but incredibly competent big brother figure to gustav in something rotten on berserker island is something i appreciate so freaking much

[ashleybenlove]

Snotlout says "You dragged us out of bed for this?" Hehehe.

Now I'm going to imagine them all sharing a bed because I can.

[sarnai4]

Betrayal

I was going to make this a fun post, but then I discovered that there are Dagur gifs on here and...yeah, that light topic didn't happen. So, here goes a little sad something.

I think these frames of animation are very interesting. Actually, this entire scene is to me. It's in "The Night and the Fury" and is right after Dagur learns that Hiccup lied. I love how this occurred because it would have been so easy to just have him be like, "You have dragons? Okay, now I'm about to kill you." They didn't do that, though. Even as Dagur is connecting the dots, he harps on the fact that a lie was told. "Your father lied to me...YOU lied to me!" If you go back to Dagur's threat from "Twinsanity," he never even said that he'd attack Berk if they had dragons. He specifically said he would if he found out they did after they denied it. Technically speaking, Dagur could have attacked immediately if he wanted to, but he still had the intention of keeping the peace. These expressions in the gif are right after he says, "You could've been my brother, Hiccup. Now, you're my enemy." When he says this, he actually sounds sad. His expressions match that. Dagur, Mr. Gets Angry At The Drop Of A Helmet didn't immediately respond with rage. He's hurt and I think I know why.

Dagur doesn't perceive things like other Vikings to put it lightly. When he has his first episode, he's talking about how he and Hiccup had great laughs after he tries to drown the poor Berkian. He calls Hiccup his old friend when they see each other again in the episode with the gif. I think he genuinely believes this. For the strange things Dagur does, he doesn't see it. So, it's not just someone lying to him, it's his best, his ONLY friend lying to him and making him looking like a cool in front of his tribe. That's why he sounds sad instead of angry. That's why he has to look away and think through what his next move is. Yes, he attacks, but what are his options?

Hiccup doesn't give him any more time to think. He tries to leave with Toothless, so Dagur has to act then. Regarding his options, they all are bleak. If he attacks, then you have war and what we got. The alternative is that he doesn't then, right? Well, that's not great either. As soon as he gets back to his ship, one of the Berserkers says that he wants to kill Hiccup himself. Dagur has to make it clear that no one besides himself will go after Hiccup. This shows how the Berserkers really can be vengeful. They're not even an aggressive group (as shown in "Something Rotten on Berserker Island"), but they have tempers. So, if Dagur holds onto the friendship that he just realized didn't exist, he has to go back with his tail between his legs and admit not only that he was played, but that he doesn't want to do anything about it.

Dagur already was worried that no one would respect him as chief. They never would if they found out he was tricked and didn't even want to get revenge for it. He would be the young chief who was too foolish to see through lies and too weak to defend his people in case the liar decided to lie again and actually attack. So, yes, Dagur attacked. Was it a mistake? Oh most definitely. He could've caused the deaths of many people and was arrested for this. So, I'm not saying that Dagur is in the right for his war, but I'm saying that I don't think it's a black and white as the show tried to portray. We see it from Hiccup's perspective with Dagur being this wild kid who just likes killing. Dagur's so much more than just some angry or deranged Viking. I just wish we got to see more of his side of things.

[revive-the-fandom]

Please tell us more about the dragon hunters idea as I have had several of my own thoughts about how to attempt to make them make sense and would love to hear someone else's :)

done! full thing here

after thinking about it they make a little more sense than i thought but Johann's twist still puts a spanner in the works sometimes. Edge of Disaster doesn't make sense if he only joined up between s4 and s5. but Dire Straits and Last Auction Heroes don't make sense if he joins up before that.

theres a couple of things that people have pointed out i didnt address, like there being no women. but i honestly think that's a sexism thing from the creators - they couldnt be bothered to go back and make new female models, then later realised that theyd made wayyy too many male ones so panicked and made the wingmaidens.

it's a problem thats existed since rob aired bc neither the Berserkers or the Outcasts have women among their ranks. (we see some women on Berserker Island in Somethings rotten on berserker island, but theyre not a part of the army).

berserkers, outcasts and hunters being all male ↑

this even extends into httyd 2 as there's no women in erets crew or drago's army

there are basically only npc women on Berk, the Defenders of the Wing (and thats only because they recycled the "hiccup and heather in disguise" models) and Wingmaiden Island lmao.

like i dont even count the warlord lady because wow we got 1 woman. like i dont even see other women in their armies

which is a weird fucking decision since there were warrior women on berk this whole time

like theres less than id like but they are there, its a trend not an exception.

but for the in canon explanation tho, i think that maybe Dagur attempted to take the Berserkers backwards a bit, and maybe put all their women on defense instead of aggressive positions. he undid 50 years worth of peace with Berk because he felt that the berserkers had lost their edge, so he probably reversed some of the laws his dad made too.

I guess since the Outcasts are all criminals or descendants of criminals they might have some kind of civil war between the genders? or civil agreement to not live together. because i imagine theres quite a few assholes living there and generally historically women have been the target of said assholes??

as for like eret and drago and the warlords i guess the Archipelago is more isolated and has more progressive rules about women than the rest of the world.

the Hunters might have a more traditional view on women. i think that they have various settlements (ports, farming villages, etc) and thats where their women are. one of the biggest jobs for viking women irl was making the sails of the ships, so i think that probably took up most of the Hunter women's time.

Heather joining them might have been forced by Dagur, who at least recognises that Berk has produced a lot of formidable women warriors and possibly had to reassess some views after getting his ass handed to him by Heather and Astrid.

but again, the more likely reason is that the creators are just sexist.

i hope that was interesting at least lol

[noctusfury]

A View to a Skrill by Noctus Fury

What would happen if the Berserkers caught themselves a Skrill to use in their raids? Ultimate mayhem will ensue!! 😈

Vorg: Chief, we finally captured a Skrill — as you have ordered!

Dagur: [Grins maniacally] AAHHHAHAHAHAHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!! EXCELLENT!!! Come, my brothers! Let us sail forth on our invincible armadas and destroy Berk once and for all! Ehehehehehe!!! Using our beloved Skrilly, we shall dominate both the seas and the skies! And Berk — and Brother Hiccup's and that Night Fury's heads — will forever be MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!!! AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOOH!!!!

For the background, I used a shot from ROB's episode "Twinsanity". Then I erased Dagur from existence and replaced it with the Skrill, while keeping the Berserker Guards. (How devious of me! Mwahahaha!!) 😈

I then added the skrill banners from the RTTE Season 5's episode "Something Rotten on Berserker Island" for some nice interior touches.

All-in-all, I'm quite proud of what I did on this! 😌 Great job, me! 😎👍🏻

The edit for Heather with this background is here.

The edit for Osvald's Funeral with this background is here.

Thank you very much for your support and for checking this out! Please like and reblog this to continue supporting me! My next edit will be for Heather this time in an epic AU what-if!

Long Live the Night!

— Noctus Fury

[toothbrushfingers]

it’s good for you all to know that i often am not proud my own creations

!! SLIGHT FLASH WARNING !!

however i was given a task by the gods and had no choice but to fulfill it

side note: Something Rotten on Berserker Island is my favorite ep of rtte PURELY bc of snot nose

[rnryhsksynx-blog]

RTTE Ep Rant!!

in the rtte ep Something Rotten on Berserker Island i felt sorry for Gustav!! i mean like come on i bet SNOTLOUT HAS THE COMMON KNOWLEDGE to comfort Gustav!! poor Gustav was about to have a panic attack for crying out loud but dose Snotlout use his god damn brain and think "oh i should probably comfort Gustav right now before i tell him my plan to free Dagur!" no no no he dose not! and on top of that DAGUR GIVES SNOTLOUT THE FRINKIN REWARD FOR "SAVING HIM ALL BY HIMSELF" i just feel soo bad for Gustav in this ep! like come on dagur you could have given Gustav a medal for doing his best! ((Sorry if it seemed i was ranting forever))

[eemoo1o-tfrmoo]

@spacenintendogs I think I saw you comment on it! But for the sake of remembering and for those who are interested:

Currently ongoing, Paradise by @kolasharkattack is a four-part fanfic with currently only three parts available that is based near-exclusively around Fishlout shipping. Even as a non-shipper (but nevertheless non-apposed), I find this fic to be just delightful! It is mostly fluff, with the trope of “one knows their feelings for the other and the other doesn’t” trope turned on its head—this time Snotlout knows and Fishlegs doesn’t! Yet both of their care and attraction to the other is apparent.

Seemingly in character, the fic is also themed as an episode of RTTE might be, with Snotlout going off to find the one thing that Fishlegs is still pining for: the one flower that will complete his garden, the Lady’s Slipper Orchid. With the help of Hookfang (and it was through this pair’s ‘&’ tag that I discovered this treasure), Snotlout sets off, only to find himself in the midst of one of the Dragon Hunters’ newest schemes, set up by Hiccup just a chapter before. Therefore, what he’d once believed to have been a trip just a few days long was now turning into a week as he spies on the main operation, and the others—but with special emphasis on Fishlegs—are obviously worried and set out after him.

We have great characterisation of Snotlout in this fic, as he susses out the Hunters’ plans and techniques very quickly and there is a similar role played here like in Something Rotten on Berserker Island, wherein Snotlout is cunning and bright and strong and wilful. Snotlout is great in this fic, and so is his dynamic with the others! As I said: in character!

I definitely recommend giving this one a read and, if necessary, subscribing to it so that we all may read the final part together!

hey fishlegs! how’s the garden on dragons edge? do the others help out sometime?

Them using it is all I can ask for. You're more likely to find us all having a nap together in the garden than them helping me. -Fishlegs

[violet-moonstone]

[eemoo1o-tfrmoo]

Something about how Snotlout says “I’ve got you” after catching Gustav from falling <3

[rosiethedragongeek]

what's a nut gotta do to get some action around here

[fictionalnormalcy]

I would like to ask something. Why were we deprived of seeing Viggo's fighting skills? i mean this was a man that before we even knew what he looked like, we were told that "everyone's afraid of him, including his own brother Ryker,". We see that he isn't as buff as his brother, and we're shown that he's more a strategical fighter than one who focuses on the weapon and their strength. I say in terms of being given a scene where we actually see him fight. He easily subdues Heather from when she charges him in Maces & Talons pt.1.

We know he has a sword that's heavier than initially thought, given how we saw that very sword drag Snotlout down in Sandblasted. Then there was a fight we missed that wasn't even onscreen, and that was how he managed to get Astrid into that compromising position in Shellshocked pt. 2. Then I also do want to outline how we were close to seeing him attack his own men in Dire Straits, sliding out that sword that would probably be used in just as a threatening way like in Twintuition.

Of course, I bet as you guys read this, you’re thinking of shooting me down and being umm like you forgetting? What about that fight scene between Hiccup and Viggo in Triple Cross?

Yes that indeed was a scene where we got to see a hint of what he’s capable of. However I want to outline this, Hiccup was the one attempting to take the offensive in this instance. Viggo was on the defensive. He didn’t want to fight. He only pulled out his own weapon because Hiccup wielded his. And I will also remind you that he ended that fight right quick when it was clear that Hiccup was in a rage and would not be backing down. 

I mean to say a fight like we see between Ryker and Gobber in Last Auction Standing.

I can say that perhaps there wasn’t such a scene because that isn’t how Viggo fights. Canonically, we see that he knows that needs to be done in order to cut off a fight quickly. It was probably never necessary to see one as extended like the Riders fighting the traitorous Berserkers because he knew what he was capable of. 

Just imagine tho, if we ever got to witness him fighting as Eret had. Because we were also deprived of seeing him fight those Hunters as he made his way to Hiccup and Toothless, tho clearly having gotten those arrows in his back because he’d fled from them. He didn’t deflect the arrows like Dagur had in Enemy of my Enemy.

I just wanna think about how much a kickass fighter he is.

[ashleybenlove]

Dagur's Game of Thrones esque throne.